To Be Young, Jewish and in Israel

ERETZ

To Be Young, Jewish and in Israel

A gap year — even in the pandemic — is time well spent.

AMIR SHOAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A hike in the Ein Avdat National Park. During a hike near Ketura.

If you know what animal Arthur Read is, then you have heard the name of a gap year program that might change your life.

Maddie Katz, 19, of Farmington Hills had already known she wanted to take a gap year when she heard about Aardvark Israel in 2019. Having visited Israel the year before, she was excited to live in it for nine months, which became slightly longer due to the pandemic.

Moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and back, Katz shared two-bedroom apartments with three or four roommates at a time. Participants are divided into apartments based on gender and kashrut observance. (Groceries are not included.)

In addition to mandatory Hebrew classes, participants choose from a variety of classes dealing with Israel’s society and politics, Judaism and general subjects. The classes take place in Aardvark’s offices, are administered through the American Jewish University and grant academic credit.

Now a student at Michigan State University, Katz said that the program’s classes were not as time-consuming as college classes: “Because it’s a gap year program, they made the classes very easy. There wasn’t much work we had to do. It was very discussion-based.”

Living in Israel, which held two elections during Katz’s time in it, has seemingly taught her just as much.

“From being there a long time, I really got to dive into how complex the society is,” she said. “There are a lot of political issues that are similar to the U.S. — a lot of division between groups, or a lot of cooperation that’s interesting. I got a little bit of a standpoint on the conflict.”

During the program, Katz interned in jewelry photography, photo editing, deal-making for documentary productions, the Tower of David Museum and even a coffee shop’s private garden.

Katz also had the opportunity to explore the country, from Tzfat and Akko in the north to Ketura in the south. “They really did a good job getting us to a lot of different parts of Israel,” she said. “I think my favorite ones were in the Negev. I love the desert, and I love hiking.”

In their spare time, Katz and her friends from the program explored the cities in which they lived: “When I was in Tel Aviv, we loved to hang out by the beach,” she said. “I checked out different museums and saw different events in the city. I’d go to the market in Jaffa and the Carmel Market.”

When the pandemic arrived, most of the program’s 120 participants returned home, but Katz chose not to. “I thought I would still be able to make better use of my time staying in Israel,” she said.

Volunteering at an orchard near Netanya.

LIFE IN LOCKDOWN

In March 2020, Israel’s first lockdown marked a turning

FOCUS Hate Groups Boost E orts

ADL reports large increase in white supremacist activity.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has recorded 283 incidents of antisemitic language or targeted Jewish institutions in the U.S. in 2020 — a 68% increase from 2019.

A new ADL report also showed nearly double the white supremacist propaganda efforts last year compared to 2019. According to the ADL, white supremacist propaganda efforts consist of the distribution of racist, antisemitic and/or anti-LGBTQ fliers, stickers, banners and posters.

The 2020 data from ADL’s Center on Extremism shows a total of 5,125 cases in 2020 compared to 2,724 in 2019. Last year produced the highest number of white supremacist propaganda incidents the ADL has ever recorded.

At least 30 white supremacist groups distributed propaganda in 2020, but three groups — Patriot Front, New Jersey European Heritage Association and Nationalist Social Club — were responsible for 92% of the activity.

There were 303 incidents of white supremacist propaganda distribution on college campuses, a considerable decline from 630 in 2019, most likely because of the pandemic and lack of students on campus.

“They’ve moved to a lot of digital platforms,” Carolyn Normandin, ADL Michigan’s regional director, said. “This is the highest level we’ve ever seen.”

ADL recorded 16 right-wing extremist-related terrorist attacks or plots in 2020 (through November), up from 13 recorded in 2019. Two of the 16 recorded incidents occurred in Michigan.

In Michigan, ADL recorded 57 incidents of white supremacist propaganda, an increase of 36% from 2019. Five groups were responsible: Patriot Front, Folks Front, Nationalist Social Club, New Order and the Loyal White Knights, a Ku Klux Klan group. Patriot Front was responsible for 47 out of the 57 incidents.

Normandin believes white supremacists took advantage of the pandemic and the divisiveness of the election year to further their cause.

While the numbers broke records in 2020, the ADL has been concerned about the steady rise of this propaganda for years. “This didn’t happen overnight and it’s going to take a long time to get rid of this,” Normandin said. “We must have public officials condemning this kind of propaganda as hate.

“In general, extremists have been emboldened in the last several years,” she continued. “It’s a charged political climate, and we must not let the complexity of that paralyze us.

“We must stand up and call out hate for what it is.”

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point for the program: “We could barely leave the apartment besides for groceries,” Katz said. “They thought of a lot of online activities for us to do.

“When things got better, we couldn’t meet as a whole group,” she continued. “Before COVID, they really encouraged us: ‘Get out of the apartment, go do things, make good use of your time.’ During the pandemic, I had friends living in another building, and I couldn’t see them because it was more than 100 yards away from me.”

Despite all of that, Katz does not regret the timing of her experience.

“If I knew before, it definitely would have affected my decision, but looking back, I’m happy I was there when I was there,” she said. “No matter what happened, I learned a lot.

“It’s given me perspective,” Katz added. “The world can turn upside-down, and you can still figure things out.”

An aspiring filmmaker, Katz said that she was likely to keep visiting Israel in the future, but not for a whole year at once. However, a big part of her experience has returned to North America with her.

“I still talk to my friends who I was in Israel with. We still have Zoom meetings at least every Sunday, even though we are on different time zones,” she said. “We are trying to reunite somewhere this summer.”

Katz said that regardless of Israel, a gap year would be the right choice for many people after high school. “Israel is obviously a really cool place, but it doesn’t even have to be Israel. You don’t have to go right to college — it’s not that important. You can even work for a year, and then go somewhere and meet people that have different perspectives. That’s really beneficial — get out of your comfort zone in any way.”

“... GO SOMEWHERE AND MEET PEOPLE THAT HAVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES. THAT’S REALLY BENEFICIAL — GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE IN ANY WAY.”

— MADDIE KATZ

COURTESY OF MADDIE KATZ